


you’re like caffeine

by sentimentalboy (lilacflowers)



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: 2ho are brothers!, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pre-Relationship, jongho is a lil flirty, parents seongjoong!, they're jongho's dads, yeosang is a cute barista!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24635125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacflowers/pseuds/sentimentalboy
Summary: jongho has a crush on the cute barista.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 9
Kudos: 215





	you’re like caffeine

**Author's Note:**

> i've finally written a fic for my favourite two boys! <3  
> i haven't written something so.. simple and sweet for a long time but jongsang deserve more cute archive content so here i am. please enjoy!  
> title is from yang yoseob's caffeine. special thanks to bethan for editing this for me!

“studying.. again?” seonghwa stared jongho down from over his cup of tea, a suspicious glint in his eye. “you’ve been heading out to study an awful lot lately.”

shoving his laptop into his bag, jongho smiled innocently at his dad. “i just think i work better in a bright open space.”

“downstairs isn’t bright and open enough for you?” seonghwa asked. jongho cursed the large open plan floor with huge glass doors beside the kitchen table that seonghwa had planned out for years.

“i just like the,” jongho waved his hand vaguely, “ambience of a coffee shop.” 

seonghwa raised an eyebrow, taking another sip. “okay honey, if you say so. don’t work too hard. remember your brother is coming over for dinner tonight, so don’t be out late!”

“i know, i know,” he tried to act nonchalant as he left the house, letting seonghwa press a kiss to his cheek with a grimace as he passed. it was a little bit on the warm side outside, the humidity creating a gross layer of sweat on his skin. at least the cafe was only a ten minute walk; if it was any further he wouldn’t have thought it worthwhile. 

...that was until he walked in the door and remembered _exactly_ why he was doing this and why he would _absolutely_ walk for longer than ten minutes. 

kang yeosang was an _angel_. the sunlight coming through the windows made his skin glow, his features as sharp and beautiful as ever. the cute apron wrapped around him accentuated his waist a little too nicely and his rolled up sleeves exposed a gorgeous pair of arms. jongho didn’t even want to think about the way his pretty hands worked the coffee machine, flipping buttons and levers as if it were second nature. 

he always gave jongho the cutest smile when he called his name and handed his americano over. he could’ve sworn that yeosang purposely made their hands to brush a little each time (even if he seemed to get shy immediately after, busying himself with a random button on the coffee machine) and jongho was maybe a little in love. 

not that any conversation had ever consisted of more than: 

“what would you like to order?”

“a large americano to sit in please.”

“will that be all for you? that’ll be $3.”

one day he’ll build up the courage to ask yeosang… literally anything, but not today. today he’ll remain content appreciating the tiny fangs that appear whenever yeosang smiles. at least he wore a name tag; the potentially awkward exchanging of names could be avoided that way. 

after taking his prime ‘yeosang-watching’ seat, jongho started to unpack all of his study materials, readying himself for another unproductive afternoon. as always, he liked to pretend that he was going to actually focus for once, but every time he ended up staring at yeosang dreamily, studying completely forgotten. there was no point in lying to himself anymore.

the coffee shop ambience was really nice though. aurora was a small but modern cafe, a hotspot for students who lived a little further from the college campus. jongho wasn’t even wanting coffee when he stumbled upon it; the aesthetic alone dragged him in. jongho had always been a bit of a sucker for places that looked even a little high class.

the fact that the staff seemed to be made up entirely of pretty boys helped a lot in making it a favourite haunt for jongho. not that he’d ever admit that.

although yeosang definitely stood out far more to him than his coworkers. he couldn’t get over the deep voice or the crazy good eyebrows or the pretty birthmark by his eye. yeosang seemed like a gift from the heavens, for sure. there was no way he was of earth.

jongho had been bouncing between staring blankly at the empty word document on his screen and staring dazedly at yeosang when he heard, “i knew it, joongie!”

his head whipped around to see his parents at the door of the coffee shop, seonghwa with a wide grin on his face. he realised he’d probably just been caught making heart eyes at the barista and he knew that seonghwa wouldn’t have let that detail slip by. his dad was nothing if not observant.

hongjoong gave jongho an embarrassed wave as seonghwa dragged him up to the counter to stand in line behind an older woman to wait their turn. yeosang was on the till today and jongho was already crying inside. seonghwa definitely followed his line of sight when he came in and definitely could tell it was yeosang that jongho was infatuated with.

“are you stupid?” the woman in front of his parents screeched, smacking her hand on the counter. jongho nearly jumped, frowning when he saw yeosang flinch. he cowered back a little, an apology on his lips. “why is it taking so long? are you new? do you not know what you’re doing?”

yeosang stuttered out another apology. “i’m sorry, the system is just being really slow today.”

a loud groan. “i’m in a hurry, can’t you just make the coffee while it loads?”

“i-i can’t do that, the order needs to be put through first-” 

the woman looked ready to blow a casket but hongjoong stepped in first. “be patient, it isn’t his fault the system is being slow. if you’re in a hurry, you shouldn’t have stopped for coffee.”

the look of relief on yeosang’s face made jongho’s heart melt. 

“where is your respect?” she spat out, eyeing hongjoong with disdain. jongho saw her sneer at seonghwa’s hand reaching for hongjoong’s and felt rage bubble up inside him. 

“and where is yours for this boy? he’s just doing his job.” hongjoong was calm, his hand squeezed seonghwa’s. “pay for your coffee then wait like everyone else. if you haven’t given yourself enough time, that’s your own fault and not his.”

clearly, the woman couldn’t fight hongjoong on that. she huffed angrily and slammed her card on the counter. yeosang made quick work of taking the payment once the screen loaded, quietly telling her to wait by the end of the counter. she stormed off and yeosang breathed out a sigh. 

truthfully, yeosang had already been having a terrible day up until now. this was the fourth angry customer he’d had to deal with today, the till had been acting up, and his thirty minute lunch break had been cut short by a sudden spike in customers.

his only saving grace had been the cute boy who always came in and ordered an americano around 2pm. yeosang wasn’t stupid; he saw the boy staring at him. he sneaked his own glances in too but he was just too shy to ever say anything.

“thank you so much,” yeosang bowed slightly to the couple now in front of him. “you didn’t need to do that, thank you.” 

hongjoong smiled gently at the boy, whose hands were still shaking. “don’t thank me, you didn’t deserve that.”

“still, thank you,” yeosang’s bowed again. “what can i get you? i’ll put it through with a discounted rate!” 

his parents hadn’t bothered him at the shop (thankfully) but seonghwa was waiting to pounce the second they got back home. 

“so, the barista?” seonghwa yanked jongho onto the sofa. jongho groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands. “aww, my baby finally has a crush?”

jongho can tell seonghwa is excited; jongho had never really expressed any kind of interest in anyone before, never had anyone he wanted to gush about to his parents. seonghwa was probably just happy that he could finally give jongho relationship advice. 

seonghwa pulled jongho into his side, cuddling him like jongho was 9 years old instead of 19. “he’s cute, jjongie baby. he seems very sweet.”

“i’ve never really spoken to him,” jongho pouted. he usually shys away from physical contact, but he couldn’t deny that a hug from his dad felt really comforting sometimes. he tried his best to be subtle about how he snuggled into seonghwa but knew he’d failed by the way seonghwa smiled against his hair. “i just end up sitting there for hours then leaving without saying anything.”

“i’m sure you know what i’m going to suggest,” seonghwa kissed the top of jongho’s head. “you won’t know unless you try.”

“i know,” resting his head on seonghwa’s shoulder, jongho huffed quietly. “how should i even go about it? asking for his number seems like a dick move when he can’t exactly run away.”

hongjoong appeared from behind the sofa, moving to sit on the other side of jongho and wrapping his arm around both him and seonghwa. “why don’t you just ask if he wants to sit and talk with you when he finishes his shift? that way, he can leave if he wants to.”

“hmm, maybe,” jongho mused. “when is yunho coming over, by the way?”

“he said he’ll call when his last class finishes,” seonghwa answered, continuously rubbing jongho’s arm. “it’ll probably be another half an hour but i think he mentioned picking up mingi first.”

“mingi’s coming too?” 

“when have you ever seen yunho without mingi,” hongjoong laughed, his hand playing with seonghwa’s hair. jongho ignored it; this was probably the least gross his parents got with each other. “i swear to god, they only come here because our tv is better quality.”

unluckily for jongho, seonghwa just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, leading the chaotic duo (mingi and yunho) to discover this crush. 

“i think you should just, like, kick the door down,” mingi was very passionate, demonstrating how he should kick the door, “march up to him and tell him you think he’s hot. you have to be _confident_.”

“that’s not confidence, that’s just gonna make me look crazy,” jongho protested. “i want him to think i’m cool, not insane.”

“don’t kick the door down but still tell him he’s hot?” yunho suggested with his mouth still full of food. hongjoong and seonghwa were eating without comment, though jongho could see the amusement on their faces.

“dad, please tell them they’re being ridiculous.”

“they’re right in a way,” hongjoong shrugged. “be confident, jjongie.”

and so, jongho decided to be confident. without kicking a door down.

that said, he did stutter and blush the entire way through asking yeosang if he wanted to come and sit with him once he finished his shift: “but there’s no pressure, you doesn’t HAVE to, but it would be really nice because i think you’re kinda cute and would like to get to know you better. only if you’re okay with it, though. please.”

yeosang laughed behind his hand, pretty eyes twinkling. “i finish about five, that’s not too late, right?”

jongho shook his head perhaps a little too aggressively. “no! it’s not too late. i’ll just be here.. studying or something.”

yeosang had the sweetest giggle. jongho felt his heart swell.

absolutely no studying happened over at jongho’s table for the two hours he spent waiting for yeosang to finish his shift. instead, he ended up staring dreamily at the beautiful barista (as per usual). this time, however, yeosang shot him little smiles as he went about his work. jongho’s heart skipped a beat every time.

when 5pm rolled around, jongho was practically vibrating in his seat from nerves. he couldn’t help but be nervous; what if yeosang didn’t think he was attractive? or funny? or cute? seonghwa had given him the usual parent pep talk about how jongho was perfect but it only served to make him more aware of how not-perfect he actually was . 

“hi jongho,” a deep voice shook him from his reverie. jongho looked up to see yeosang smiling shyly down at him, a hand holding the back of a chair like he was unsure whether he should sit down or not.

“yeosang!” jongho couldn’t stop the smile that slipped onto his face, motioning for yeosang to sit across from him. “how was work?”

“oh, it was okay,” yeosang sat down and pulled his sleeves over his hands. he wasn’t in his work clothes anymore, instead he wore an oversized white hoodie and red beanie. he looked so.. normal and yet so insanely beautiful. “it wasn’t really busy today so i was a little bored.”

it turned out that yeosang was very easy to talk to. he was clearly shy but jongho didn’t mind taking the lead with the conversation; all he needed was the right topic to pull yeosang from his shell a little. yeosang was really into skateboarding (unexpected), had a love for chicken (cute), and was best friends with his two coworkers; san and wooyoung.

“i’ve known wooyoung for 5 years now,” yeosang explained as jongho nodded earnestly. he really liked the way yeosang spoke. “we met in high school and stuck together ever since. he got the job at this cafe because of me.”

“that’s sweet,” jongho said, resting his chin on his hand. “what about san?”

“i met him here. he’s so friendly, he kind of took care of me from the moment i started,” yeosang looked away, almost embarrassed and jongho melted. 

“you’re cute,” he blurted out, watching yeosang’s eyes widen. he felt his own cheeks warm up but he kept his gaze on yeosang. 

“o-oh,” yeosang seemed flustered, covering his face with a sleeve covered hand. “uhm. thank you?”

“no problem,” jongho grinned. “keep telling me about your friends.”

yeosang stuttered a little through his next words, trying to tell jongho about how san and wooyoung messed around a lot at work. jongho tried to stop the adoring look he knew was plastered across his face but he really couldn’t help it. yeosang was just too adorable. 

“uhm, i’ve been talking too much about myself,” yeosang said, his hands clasped in his lap. “sorry about that.”

“only because i’ve been asking about you,” jongho supplied. he didn’t want yeosang to worry; he had never been so into listening to someone before. “i like hearing you talk.”

“ahh, jongho!” yeosang whined, hiding behind his arms, head pressed against the table. “you can’t say these things so easily.” 

“your reactions are so sweet, though,” jongho grinned, trying to coax yeosang back up. he was never usually this confident but yeosang seemed to bring out his flirty side. 

“you’ll have to stop messing my heart up if this is gonna work out,” yeosang mumbled, a pout on his lips. 

jongho couldn’t help the warmth that spread through him. “i’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

**Author's Note:**

> i love yeosang so muuuuuuuch. jongho finding yeosang so cute is literally my own pov. i might add more to this little au, i can't stop thinking about seonghwa practically adopting sangie dsfjbsd  
> pls come cry about yeosang with me on 


End file.
